Managing Rights

Managing copyright means:

Controlling how a work is used by others

Granting permissions and licenses

Responsibilities for the life of the copyright

The creation of new copyrighted works in the university raises
complex copyright questions with respect to ownership of the new
materials. It can be a daunting task to sort out authors from other
contributors, establishing whether works are works made for hire
or independent efforts, and considering whether a work is a joint
work, a compilation, a derivative work, or it uses pre-existing
content.

Without agreements to consolidate or transfer rights, copyright
law will determine copyright ownership. Copyright owners, whether
individual authors or University of Washington, may find they have
insufficient rights to make it possible to share, publish and disseminate
the work as they desire.

Once rights are established, rights are transferred only by an
agreement and are generally enforced through litigation.